India to provide 100 new ambulances for Sri Lankan Emergency service

The Sri Lankan Government and the Indian Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide a financial grant for 100 new ambulances.

The 1990 Suwa Seriya National Pre-hospital Emergency Ambulance Service provides free medical transport across all districts in Sri Lanka. The service handles between 1,000 and 1,200 patient transport operations every day. Because the current fleet of 322 ambulances travels roughly 9 million kilometers each year, the government noted a high frequency of technical failures.

The Indian Government agreed to the grant to help the Sri Lankan government acquire new vehicles equipped with full medical facilities. The Cabinet of Ministers approved the move following a request from the Minister of Health and Mass Media. These new vehicles will join the existing fleet to maintain the 24-hour emergency service.